Museum selects design team, buys school

KEUKA PARK—The Finger Lakes Museum has taken a significant step toward their goal of creating a museum that will showcase the 9,000 square-mile Finger Lake Region.Board President John Adamski announced the Board of Trustees has selected design and pre-construction planning teams. Adamski said the award-winning Wilkes-Barre, Pa. firm of Bohlin Cywinsk Jackson was chosen as the project architect. Thirty-five contenders submitted qualifications. Rochester-based LeChase/Gilbane partnership was selected as the museum’s pre construction consultant. Adamski said, “Selecting these two teams from literally dozens of qualified firms was no easy task. Members of our facilities committee spent many hours reading, evaluating and comparing each proposal. Both of these teams are nationally recognized in the field of museum and habitat design and construction. We’re very excited to have them aboard.”Adamski said that bringing designers and construction experts together at the outset will ensure collaboration early in the process and eliminate cost overruns further down the road. “Value engineering will begin on day one,” Adamski added. Finger Lakes Museum is an initiative to create a world-class educational institution that will showcase the cultural heritage and ecological evolution of the 9,000 square-mile Finger Lakes Region. The initial figure for constructing the project was estimated to be about $40 million, but Adamski said that was a “comparable guesstimate” made without the benefit of architectural and construction management expertise. He said, “Now we can start working with some real numbers. Phasing the project is also under consideration.”Keuka Lake State Park was selected as the location for the museum in April 2010 from 19 potential sites throughout the Finger Lakes region. The next step in project development is to undertake a master plan for Keuka Lake State Park, the museum’s future site. This will be done together with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation. The museum took another step Friday, Feb. 4 with the purchase of the former Branchport School. Adamski said, “The original plan was for the Finger Lakes Visitors Association to purchase the school and lease it to the museum on a five-year interim basis during the startup phase of the project. Once we started to use the school last summer we realized it has great potential. We saw a greater value in owning the school rather than in leasing it. We have since realized the long term potential of the building and grounds as a research and education center, directly affiliated with the museum. That’s 17,000 square feet we don’t have to build in Keuka Lake State Park.”Adamski said, “At first we looked at the school as a temporary office and warehouse for artifacts and collections while the project was being designed and built. After conducting program definition and market studies, we realized that we could have some initial museum exhibits and programming ready there as early as next summer.” The school, on approximately 16 acres, is less than a mile from Keuka Lake State Park.